Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

Cauliflower is clearly the star of this cauliflower “mashed potatoes” recipe. It doesn’t have much flavor on its own, though, so we’ll add some other really tasty ingredients.

You can use fresh or roasted garlic for this garlic mashed cauliflower recipe. If you’d like to roast a head of garlic, slice about 1/2″ off the top and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap in foil and roast at 425 degrees F until tender, about 30 minutes. You can also find roasted garlic at some grocery stores like Whole Foods in the refrigerated section.

You can steam the cauliflower in a saucepan on the stove, but I like to make it extra simple and use the Instant Pot. I steam broccoli and cauliflower regularly in the Instant Pot on a setting of 0-1 minute at high pressure. Be sure to immediately quick release the pressure if using this method.

Whether on the stove or in the Instant Pot, or even in the microwave if you like, cook your cauliflower until tender, then let some of the water evaporate so it’s not too watery.

While my preferred method of mashing potatoes is to use a hand masher to avoid gluey potatoes, mashed cauliflower actually works best blended in a food processor. We tested this recipe with a hand masher and found that the cauliflower never got creamy.

So, toss that warm, tender cauliflower into the food processor along with a little pat of room temperature butter (we use Miyoko’s), the roasted garlic cloves, and either nutritional yeast or Parmesan.

Don’t go too crazy with the blending, okay? Just pulse, pulse, pulse until it’s reached the desired consistency. I prefer this mashed cauliflower to have some texture, rather than end up a puree. That’s up to you though. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then transfer to a serving dish.

Garlic mashed cauliflower really needs some fresh green herbs. Sliced chives are my favorite addition, but you can make it really special with some shaved truffles. Serve warm right away. Leftovers are still good the next day.